What is Hypertonicity?

Hypertonicity is when the muscles are excessively tight or constantly contracted.  This can affect various muscles in the body, including those on the pelvic floor, which play a crucial role in bladder and bowel control, and also referred to as hypertonic pelvic floor or high muscle tone.

These muscles must contract and relax appropriately to maintain continence and allow for normal urination and bowel movements. When these muscles are hypertonic, they are too tight, leading to dysfunction and contributing to incontinence.

How Does Hypertonicity Lead to Incontinence?

1. Urgency Incontinence: Hypertonic muscles can irritate the bladder, leading to sudden and strong urges to urinate when the bladder isn’t full
2. Overflow incontinence: Excessive tightness can interfere with the normal flow of urine, causing the bladder to retain urine and leading to a leak when the bladder becomes overly full.
3. Constipation: Tight pelvic floor muscles can also cause constipation, which can indirectly lead to fecal incontinence due to the straining and pressure it creates.
4. Anal Sphincter Dysfunction: Hypertonicity can affect the muscles around the anus, making it difficult to control bowel movements, leading to involuntary leakage.
5. Stress Incontinence: Although stress incontinence is not usually due to hypertonicity, the bladder leakage due to movement can present similarly, confusing some.

Causes of Hypertonicity

• Chronic stress: muscles can remain in a state of tension.
• High-impact activities: overuse or misuse of pelvic muscles from straining from these
  activities like CrossFit.
• Childbirth: Trauma to the pelvic area during childbirth can lead to muscle tightness and
  dysfunction
• Injury or surgery: Pelvic surgeries or injuries can cause scar tissue and muscle tension.
• Neurological conditions: Conditions such as multiple sclerosis or stroke can affect
  muscle tone.

Symptoms of Hypertonicity

• Pain or discomfort in the pelvic region
• Frequent urination or difficulty emptying the bladder
• Constipation or pain during bowel movements
• Painful intercourse
• Chronic pelvic pain
• Bladder leakage due to movement

How to Treat Hypertonicity?

• Pelvic floor Physical Therapy: This is often the first line of treatment and involves exercises and techniques to relax and strengthen the pelvic muscles.
• Biofeedback: This technique uses sensors to provide real-time feedback about muscle activity, helping patients learn to control their pelvic muscles better.
• Medications: Muscle relaxants or other medication may be prescribed to reduce muscle tension.
• Behavioral Modifications: Stress management, dietary changes, and bladder training can also help alleviate symptoms.
• NeuroMuscular Stimulation: To help focus on relaxing those muscles try Elitone URGE.

Elitone URGE focuses on sending calming waves to relax those muscles that don’t know how! It also cycles through the on and off stimulation, clueing the muscles in on alternating states.
It can be effortlessly done for 20 minutes a day, 4-5 days a week while going about your day.